Gwendolyn & The Bandit

Plucking the cracked leathery notebook from the counter Gwendy flipped through the brittle, stained pages. Let’s see… Warts Potion, Puss Potion, Blood Boiler…, Ah here it is. Love Potion. Gwendolyn peered closely, squinting at the squiggled writing. Great Grandma had been almost blind by the time she had finally decided to write down her potions recipes to pass on. Of course, at one hundred and three, bad eyesight was no surprise.

Let’s see, Gwendolyn mused. Two toad testicles harvested at midnight on the summer solstice from toads perched on a lilly in a pond in a clearing in the woods illuminated by moonlight [2 toads, 1 testicle per] …Hmmm, seems a tad restrictive. And.., do toads even have testicles? Gwendy looked at the scrawled illustration below the recipe. Well, she thought, shuddering, guess that answers that. Toads do have testicles but they’re internal. YUCK. Gwendy dropped the notebook back on the pine counter and wiped her palms on her apron. She wanted to wash her hands just from looking at the illustration. Gross. Well, at least Gigi was thorough.

Gwendy peered wistfully out the dirty window at the dark forest beyond the little shack. She remembered the old woman smiling - a smile that scared most people silly with the blackened gums and missing teeth - at her as she played with the voodoo dolls while Gigi would be stirring some potion in her cauldron. “Don’t stick in the pins Gwendy,” she would say. “Unless it’s the mayor’s simulacrum. If so, I suggest the left side of the upper chest.” Gigi would cackle as as she returned to her ingredients shelf.

“I miss you Gigi,” she whispered. A tap on the window pane from some bug was her only response, but Gwendy felt it was her beloved Gigi answering her. Picking up,the book again, Gwendy ran a finger down the page. 4 dragonfly wings liberally dusted with moth dust… Moth dust? Really? Gwendolyn perused the shelf at the wall end of the counter. Good, dragonfly wings and moth dust were there. Toad testicles…, let’s see… Gwendolyn slid bottles and boxes around, sneezing as the dust motes stirred up. Newt Eyeballs, Skunk Scent - Gwendy hastily set that one back down, wrinkling her nose. Here it is. Gwendy sighed with relief. Unscrewing the mason jar she peered in. Crap! Only a single testicle remained and the summer solstice was still two months away.

Maybe I can make do with frog balls collected at midnight, she thought, looking at the pair of big eyed tree frogs staring at her from where they perched on the window enjoying the moisture. Probably not. She sighed and shut the notebook.

Gwendy looked around at the old shack where she had spent so many hours at her great grandmother’s side. Since the age of six … thirteen years ago… Gwendy had spent as much time as possible here. Gigi been the center, the rock, of her life and Gwendy had loved the old woman fiercely.

While the other village girls were picking flowers, going to dances, learning to cook, and mend clothes with their mothers, Gwendy had been learning how to identify plants and their properties, good or ill. How to mix potions and render animal parts. She had also went with Gigi most times to help when someone would get hurt… broken arms, hunting accidents, fevers… She knew what potions and creams to use for what injury. She now realized that Gigi had been training her to be the village witch and healer. Then, two weeks ago, Gwendy had come to see Gigi but gotten no answer at the door. Going in she had found her great grandmother lying in the bed… cold. Not breathing. Gigi was buried under the oak tree out back with a wooden cross marking the spot. Gwendy still felt a hollow place in the pit of her stomach.

Well, no love potions for now, she thought with a whimsical smile. Guess the girls are just going to have to do it the old fashioned way. The love shack is closed for restockage and inventory. Meanwhile, I’ve got to finish inventorying all this stuff and clean this place up. The cauldron definitely needs a good scrubbing. The chimney needs sweeping… Getting up from the counter, Gwendy stepped over to the soot stained hearth. Hearing a rustling noise she bent over, canted her head, and looked up the shaft. A pair of glowing eyes greeted her. Gwendy gave a small shriek and stumbled back, falling on her rear. A puff of old ashes poofed out from from the chimney, coating Gwendolyn’s face. A scrambling noise from the chimney caused her heart to race. Gwendy scooted back on the old pine floor, eyes locked on the fireplace. A pair of paws appeared, small black claws gripping the stone.

What the heck? she thought. A grey whispered face poked down between the paws. Black nose, grey fur, and a black bandit mask of fur over dark colored eyes. The raccoon dropped down from the stone shaft, shook ash from its fur and sat on its haunches. Cocking its head the raccoon wagged whiskers at the slack jawed young woman and … smiled. “Gwendy, yes?” she heard in her head. Gwendy did a double take. Did that raccoon just talk to her… in her head?

The raccoon patted his chest and back, sneezing as ash puffed up. Then he cocked his head to the right, wiggling his nose. “You Gwendy, yes? Gretchen great kit?”

Gwendy blinked. “Uhm, yes… I’m Gwendy. Gretchen was my great grandmother. But I always called her Gigi … GG, for great grandma…” Gwendy realized she was rambling, slackjawed. She slammed her mouth shut.

“Gwendy? Yay. I Bandit. I work with Gretchen. Gigi?”

“Yes, Gigi. Were you her… familiar?”

“Family? Yes. Gigi family.”

Gwendy chuckled. “Not family. Familiar. Witches usually have an animal they bond with. A lot have cats, but that’s not a rule or anything.”

“I Bandit. Gretchen… Gigi…, my friend. Bandit miss Gigi. You my new friend?” A tear rolled down the raccoons face, dropping from a black nose.

Gwendy felt her heart melting. Scrambling to her knees she held out her hands. “Yes. Gwendy is Bandit’s new friend.”

The raccoon scampered forward, stood on his hind legs, and placed his paws on Gwendy’s knees. “Bandit miss Gigi.”

“I miss Gigi too. We’ll miss her together Bandit.” Gwendy ruffled the raccoons furry head with one hand while wiping a tear from her own eye. Just then a bang on the door caused Gwendy to startle.

“Gwendy? Gwendy, you in there?” came a familiar, if frantic, voice.

Gwendy scrambled to her feet and went to the door. Bandit jumped up on a rickety chair and started washing his paws. Opening the door, Gwendy was greeted by the sight of a ten year old boy in ragged clothes with dirty unshod feet. “Markus? What is it?”

“Gwendy, it’s Missus Adams. She done got herself stuck by a hog. She’s bleeding bad. My ma said to fetch you.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s at the smithy. You gotta come quick.”

“Someone hurt?” Gwendy heard in her head.

“Yes. Hurt.”

Markus, eyes wide and terrified, looked at her. “Yes. She needs doctorin’”

“Black bag. Under sleep place. Gigi used for make hurt better.”

“Markus, you run straight back and tell them I’ll be right there. I gotta grab some doctorin’ stuff.” Markus took off running as fast as he could back down the path to the village.

Bandit scampered to the rickety bed in the corner and darted underneath it. A couple of seconds later a black bag was pushed out from where it had been stashed. Bandit stuck his head back out from under the bed. “Med sin bag,” he said.

Gwendy opened the bag. Bandages, needles, cat gut, creams, healing potions… “Thank you Bandit.”

“Bandit help? Yes? Help Gwendy?”

“Yes. Bandit help a Gwendy a lot… Uh… I have to go.” As she ran for the door, Gwendy prayed silently. ‘Gigi, I sure hope you’re there cause it looks like it’s time for me to put all those lessons of yours to use. Please help me.’

The raccoon darted out the door before it could close. Scampering up a nearby tree he looked toward the village lights. As his new friend darted down the path, Bandit followed, jumping from tree to tree.

🦝🦝🦝🌱🌱🌱🌿🌿🌿☘️☘️☘️🐗🐗🐗☘️☘️☘️🌿🌿🌿🌱🌱🌱🦝🦝🦝

Merry Christmas to all my vocal media friends. If you enjoyed the above tale, please let me know. If so, I will move on to the next scene. After all, why does Gwendy not already know Bandit? Why can nobody else hear him? Who in the village needs a love potion? Will Missus Adam’s be okay? 🤗🤗